There are currently two popular basic technologies for the mass production of printed images: offset printing and xerography. Offset printing is currently favored for large volumes of identical prints, such as the pages of magazines and books. One downside of offset printing is that a plate must be prepared for every image desired to be printed, and such plates typically cannot be modified for subsequent use after the particular print job is concluded. In recent years xerography has become cost-effective for somewhat smaller print jobs than are typical with offset printing; and, with laser-based imaging, xerography enables images generated at a computer to be readily printed in large volumes without the hands-on work required in offset.
There have been efforts to make basic offset printing technology adapt to certain imaging techniques that are common in xerography, with some attendant practical advantages. One line of research concerns the making of “flexographic” printing plates, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,697, and U.S. Published Patent Application 2005/0150407-A1. Another type of printing technology, within the general realm of offset, includes the use of what are called “Anilox” rolls to retain liquid ink and transfer the ink to a print sheet or blanket roll, such as described in materials published by Harper® Corporation.
Japanese Kokai 11-258785 proposes another method for using digital imaging techniques in a largely offset-based environment.
Nature, Vol. 434, pp. 879-882 (14 Apr. 2005) describes what is called a “light-induced shape-memory polymer”.
US Published Patent Applications 2004/0081911, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,129,021; 2004/0103801, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,554; 2004/0241583, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,989,220; and 2005/0221230, now abandoned, disclose various recent approaches to providing digital imaging, such as through a modulating laser, in a largely offset-based environment.